National Maritime Museum Annual Report and Accounts 2015-2016 HC 460 National Maritime Museum Annual Report and Accounts 2015-2016 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 9 (8) of the Museums and Galleries Act 1992 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 13 July 2016 HC 460 © Crown copyright 2016 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Park Row, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF, United Kingdom marked for the attention of the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum. Print ISBN 9781474128452 Web ISBN 9781474128469 ID 12021607 07/16 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Printed in the UK by the Williams Lea Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office TRUSTEES' AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER'S ANNUAL REPORT AND CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2016 CONTENTS i Statutory Background and History 1 ii Mission, Aims and Values 2 1. Chairman's Foreword 3 2. Director's Statement 4 3. Review of activities, achievements and performance 2015–16 5 4. Sustainability report 17 5. Future priorities 22 6. Workforce and Employment 25 7. Remuneration Report 28 8. Reference and administrative details 32 9. Supporters of the National Maritime Museum 2015–16 34 10. Financial Review 37 11. Statement of the Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees and the Director as Accounting Officer 41 12. Governance Statement 42 13. The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General 52 14. Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities 54 15. Charity Statement of Financial Activities 55 16. Balance Sheets as at 31 March 2016 56 17. Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 57 18. Notes to the Consolidated Accounts 58 i MUSEUM BACKGROUND The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich is the largest maritime museum in the world. The Museum was founded by statute in 1934 and it now includes the Queen’s House, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the clipper ship Cutty Sark. The collective brand name for the four sites is Royal Museums Greenwich. The four sites are open 362 days a year and in 2015–16 welcomed some 2.5 million visits from Britain and around the world and 4.4 million visits to its website www.rmg.co.uk. The Board of Trustees of the National Maritime Museum is a statutory corporation, is an exempt charity, and is classed as an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body. In 2015–16 it had an annual income of some £29 million and a staff of 476 full-time equivalents, under the Board of Trustees, the Director, and an Executive. The Museum's total income in 2015–16 of £29m constituted £13.5m (47%) from its self- engendered trading activity, donations and sponsorship; and £15.5m (53%) of funding from the taxpayer via Grant-in-Aid through the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Entry to the national maritime collection is free, although admissions charges are made for special exhibitions, the Peter Harrison Planetarium, the Greenwich Meridian Line and the Time Galleries and Cutty Sark. History and Collection The National Maritime Museum was opened to the public by King George VI on 27 April 1937. Previously (1807–1933) its main buildings at Greenwich, including the Queen’s House, accommodated the Royal Hospital School. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was added to the Museum’s estate and curatorial remit in 1953. The Museum is unique in the architectural significance and setting of its buildings. The 17th- century Queen’s House, designed by Inigo Jones and probably the most important early classical building in England, is the keystone of the historic ‘park and place’ landscape of Maritime Greenwich, so-designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1997. Flamsteed House (built 1675–76), the original part of the Royal Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the first purpose-built scientific research facility in Britain. The Museum has a number of storage outstations in south-east London close to its main site which are currently being rationalized and consolidated as part of the Museum's Endeavour project. All the Museum buildings have been subsequently upgraded at various times. Modern redevelopment of the main galleries centres on what is now the Neptune Court. One of the first museum capital projects funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, this was completed in 1999 and reopened by Her Majesty The Queen. The major Time and Space capital project at the Royal Observatory was opened by Her Majesty The Queen in May 2007. In July 2011 the new Sammy Ofer Wing was opened by the Patron of the Museum, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. This major architectural addition provides a new Museum main entrance from the Royal Park, state-of-the-art facilities for our pre-eminent research archive and a custom-built special exhibitions gallery. In April 2012 Her Majesty The Queen reopened the fully conserved Cutty Sark to the public. At that time the Museum had the responsibility for the operational management of the ship under a Service Level Agreement with the then owner of the ship, the Cutty Sark Trust. At the end of July 2015 the ship was generously donated as a gift by the Trustees of the Cutty Sark Trust in to the national maritime collection held by the Museum. 1 The Museum has the most important holdings in the world on the history of Britain at sea, comprising more than two million items, including maritime art (both British and 17th- century Dutch); cartography; manuscripts including official public records; ship models and plans; scientific and navigational instruments; and instruments for time-keeping and astronomy (based at the Observatory). Its British portraits collection is exceeded in size only by that of the National Portrait Gallery and its holdings relating to Nelson and Cook, among many other individuals, are unrivalled. It has the world's largest maritime historical reference library (135,000 volumes) including books dating back to the 15th century. An active loans programme ensures that items from the collection are seen in the UK and abroad. Through its displays, exhibitions and outreach programmes the Museum also explores our current relationship with the sea, and its future as an environmental force and resource. By virtue of its pairing with the Royal Observatory, the Museum enjoys a unique conjunction of subjects (History, Science, Arts), enabling it to trace the movement and accomplishments of people and the origins and consequences of empire. The outcome of the Museum's work is to achieve, for all its public at home and overseas, a greater understanding of British economic, cultural, social, scientific, political and maritime history, and its consequences in the world today. ii MISSION, OBJECTIVE AND AIMS The Museum's Mission is to: illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars, and their relationship to people The Museum's Objective is to: Stimulate people's curiosity – the trigger for discovery and learning The Museum's Aims are to: 1. Put visitors first. Create inspiring experiences that transform people’s understanding of our subjects and collections. 2. Value our heritage. Care for and develop our unique collection and historic sites. 3. Extend our reputation. Maximise our reach to and impact on local, regional, national and international audiences and stakeholders. 4. Strengthen our organization. Grow our expertise, increase revenues, control costs and manage risks. 2 1. CHAIRMAN'S FOREWORD On 20 June 2016 construction work started on site in Kidbrooke for our new collections store and conservation facilities. Funding for this project was enabled by the Department for Culture Media and Sports new loans initiative and we are very grateful for their continued support. This element of the Endeavour project addresses our long-standing needs for collection storage, public access to the reserve collections and conservation studios. Development of our facility in Kidbrooke will not just comprise stores and studios – we will be realising a long-standing ambition to create an open store, to make easily accessible our vast reserve collections to researchers and the general public, and to open up a window for the public to our conservation work. We are honoured to report that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, our Patron has granted our request that the new facility be named: The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre. Prince Philip has been actively engaged with and has given his massive support to this museum for nearly 70 years as Trustee and most recently as Patron. The naming of the collections centre, with its functions, themes and activities makes a very fitting tribute to Prince Philip's unique and continuing involvement with the Museum and to his great interest in and knowledge of the national maritime collection and its ability to tell the nation's story. Last year I was very pleased to be able to record that the Trustees of the Cutty Sark Trust presented Cutty Sark as a gift to the national collection and that the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum warmly accepted this most important donation. The great clipper ship continues to be a very popular attraction and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe, was on board on 12 August 2015 to make a presentation to the ship’s millionth visitor since re-opening to the public in 2012.